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Re: Civil War Bullets



Reminds me of the time we went out to do a historical survey of the
bombing range west of Salt Lake (the UTTR; Utah Test and
Training Range, also--if incorrectly--known as the Dugway Proving
Ground.  Two different places, even if they border on each other.)
We had to have a safety briefing beforehand which said, basically,
don't touch ANYTHING!  It didn't stop me, I must admit, from
securing as a souvenir a .50 cal. bullet and cartridge case,
because there were zillions of them laying everywhere, and I knew
from my own experiences in basic training that they don't carry a
charge but are just a projectile; but I sure didn't pick anything else
up!   Except some nasty mono-like fever which I had for years;
shouldn't have had that hamburger at the Ditto Diner when we
landed the helicopter for gas at Dugway!  What we all really wanted
was the V-1 rocket we spied from the air, laying in the mud about a
quarter mile south of I-80.  Still there, I imagine.

I just heard on the news, or read in the paper, about a group of
people getting blown up from WW II shells.  Which brings me to
the main point, an absolutely fascinating book I read, and whose
name nor author I can never remember, about the French
government's department of Demineage, which is a whole
government agency devoted to nothing else but picking up old
artillery shells that the French countryside--and, one suspects,
much of Europe--is littered with to this day, and disposing of.

Just ramblin',








Roy Webb, C.A.
Multimedia Archivist
Special Collections
J. Willard Marriott Library
295 South 1500 East
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah   84112
(801) 585-3073  //  fax (801) 585-3976
rwebb@library.utah.edu

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